Day 3 of the 2016 PAN was a roller coaster of emotions that eventually peaked with the black belt open class, male and female.

In the end, Leandro Lo and Bernardo Faria will repeat 2015’s final while teammates Dominyka Obelenyte and Andresa Correa will met in the ladies final.

Faria submits all, Lo upsets Galvão

The adult male black belt open class division was a gathering of stars and they started to shine early. Luiz Panza returned for his first major event after almost a year healing a broken leg. He made his way to the quarterfinals with victories over Kitner Moura, Mahamed Aly and James Puopolo. Tim Spriggs was on fire and met João Gabriel Rocha in another quarterfinal. It was a match that draw blood out of João’s mouth. Spriggs 5-2 win was a surprise for some. Before that, Rocha had beaten the always tough Murilo Santana. Leonardo Nogueira reached his quarterfinal beating Alessandro Ferreira 5-0 with a sweep and guard pass and Abraham Marte (6-0). His opponent would be André Galvão, who had finished Aaron Johnson and Alex Cecconi.

Leandro Lo made to his quarterfinals after choking Danny Guy from the half guard and beating Guilherme Soares 3-0. Good friends, Panza made way to Lo for a spot in the semis. Bernardo Faria was deadly. He finished every one of his opponents. First he used his sneaky leg lock on Erza Lenon then he caught Victor Silverio in a triangle and finally repeated the leg lock on Gabriel Arges. In the semifinal against Spriggs, a Ezequiel choke was responsible for securing Faria’s spot in the final once again. The semifinal between Lo and Galvão did not see a lot of movement, but Lo was able to sweep and then use his unbelievable guard game to hold back Galvão and qualify for his third final in three years.

Dominyka back with a boom; Andresa keeps consistent

Since her impressive campaign at the 2015 Worlds, when she won both the heavyweight and the open class, Dominyka Obelenyte kept relatively away from the competition circuit. She returned this Saturday and displayed her well known game filled with pressure and creativity. Dom’s first victim was Talita Nogueira, finished with an armbar inside the triangle. Her opponent in the semifinal would be Mackenzie Dern, coming from finishing Leah Taylor with a toe hold and beating Fernanda Mazzelli 2-0 on advantages after a tough match. The semifinal was thrilling and also close. In the end, Dominyka was able to score one sweep more than her opponent to win 10-8.

On the other side of the bracket, Andresa Correa finished Amanda Loewen with a toe hold and Hillary Vanornum with a choke from the back. When Tami Musumecia and Beatriz Mesquita were both DQed for playing the double sitting guard for too long, Andresa jumped to the final.

Meregali and Basilio ruler over the brown belt division

In the brown belt division, Nicholas Meregali and Bianca Basilio were the standouts, Basilio outscored Nathiely de Jesus 2-0. Meregali gave no rest to Guthemberg and eventually managed a bow and arrow choke from the back.